This is my third pair of twin turbo headers. Building these has become sort of a hobby. I'm always thinking of ways to optimize ease of install, ease of fabrication, and performance.

they fit t3/t4 turbos with all stock accessories except the AIR diverter valves.

the file names of the pictures are misleading. the ones labled "pass#" are actually the driverside manifold.

https://jshare.johnshopkins.edu/asch...urbo%20kit%202

I made a jig for these headers, so they're getting easier for me to fabricate.
My next challenge is to figure out a way to add external wastegates without sacrificing stock fitment.

 

look nice, i need to find a set for twin GN turbos to put on my camaro.

 

How are you cutting your flanges? I know we talked a while back about me getting them for you. Well, now I have full access to a CNC shop. Let me know if you want to start producing these, and I'll give you a good deal on both the t3 and header flanges.

 

If I had a GN turbo to test fit I might be able to cook something up pretty quick.


I cut my own header flanges out of mild steel because of the low coefficient of thermal expansion. I bought the cheap grade stainless flanges from ebay for the inlet. If I do end up making these things in the future I will definately keep you in mind. There doesn't seem to be a real demand for this quality of header, though.

 

i'm sure what you're looking to get for a set of headers is outside what I'd like to spend right now as well

 

I agree, the amount people think they should get for turbo headers is just rediculous most of the time. It would be nice to see a decent header for a decent price. but its not just the headers that are rediculous, all turbo parts are in the rediculous category.

 

i'll probably just flip over a set of fullsize SBC truck shorties and cut off the flange and rework the end for the turbo and build a bracket to support the turbo weight.

 

you guys are probably right for the most part. With over $350 in parts invested its hard to sell 'em too cheap. Not to mention like 20-some hours labor to get it right and all the leg-work getting parts together.

My first set of twin turbo headers were flipped block-huggers. I never did that again because it was so much more complicated to make them work than it was to just start from scratch. Now if you're willing to relocate things under the hood, get a cowl hood, etc., than it becomes a different story.

The reality for everyone with the ability to do thier own set-up is that the optimum solution is different for every person. Some people may already have certain mods to promote one way, while others can get deals on other parts to do it another way. Some people like to sacrifice quality and performance for cost, and the other way around as well.

The only type of twin turbo setup I don't understand is the log-style, because I have no idea how to route the driverside downpipe! haha.

...to each his own.

 

now if I were able to perfect the design and manufacturing methods, I'm sure I could get the prices low enough for lots of people to want to afford, but I don't see that happening in the near future for myself. you gotta do it either better, faster, or cheaper. My first setup was cheap, but slow and really crappy; my second was better, but slow and expensive; and the third was fast, but still pretty expensive and not quite perfect for performance.

 

Well I am not a turbo expert so I dont have the answers, but if your curious about how to build a log-style header system then maybe you should check out the system being built at this addy. This guy seems to do really impressive work and the log style system he's building in this thread looks promising. Good pics to, maybe it will give you some ideas for your own.
http://mifbody.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=11091

 

It will be interesting to see how that one turns out. I've just never found room to run a decent downpipe on the driverside with a log design because of the firewall being so close behind the #7 cyl and the brake booster and steering column close next to it. the only way I've found is to run it between the 5 and 7 cylinders right next to the block and route the #7 runner around the downpipe.

I've considered a hybrid design, with a log style manifold, and #7 and #8 with their own separate tubes to go around the downpipes, but I was concerned about performance restrictions. No matter what you do its always more difficult/expensive than planned in some way.

 

Are you getting your weld ells locally (DC/Baltimore area) or are you mail ordering them? Those look to be stainless? Schedule 40?

 

they look pretty nice. I would suggest adding a purge inside the tubes while you are welding. You can see the stainless welds sugaring on the inside. With the argon purge, the welds will look just as nice inside as out, and you will have NO chance of running anything that might break off through the turbine.

 

I get the weld-els from mcmaster.com. 304L schedule 10 (.110" wall). Argon is too expensive for me... so i just knock all the crap off the inside with a die grinder. I do use argon to sheild the outside though.

 

well, I'd probably suggest you at least snag some solar flux for the insides if you're not going to purge. You have about the most perfect example of "sugar" contaminiation in stainless welds that I've ever seen, and sure, you can grind most of it off, but those areas are left brittle and prone to cracking.

It would also make for a quick and large inprovement in appearance without really changing much. I'm curious, are you mig or tig welding there?

 

I'll have to look up 'solar flux'... they're TIG welds from a really cheap touch-start.

 

you should be able to get it at a welding supply, or order some:
http://www.solarflux.com/Pages/Howtouse.html

very little of it goes a LONG way, so it's much cheaper than using argon, the alcohol that you use to mix with the powder will probably run you much more total.

The stuff was originally designed for welding up stainless airplane exhaust manifolds.

 

What size weld-els are those? 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" ?

 

1-1/4 pipe size... for people who don't know its about 1 1/2" inside diameter.